DCs decision to largely wipe the slate clean with all of their titles and reboot the history of the DC Universe at the end of Flashpoint caused a huge amount of controversy in the months leading up to the beginning of The New 52. Fans were quite upset many of their favourite stories would no longer be in-continuity and their heroes would be undergoing drastic changes to their characteristics or history or, in some cases, both. The most prominent retcons fans cried foul about was the dissolution of Superman and Lois Lanes marriage and fan-favourite characters, namely Stephanie Brown and Wally West, getting swept out of the DC Universe. Theres also the very confusing aspect that, within The New 52s history, superheroes have only existed for a little over five years which means Batman has somehow gone through four different Robins throughout his short career as Batman, nearly all of whom went from being children or pre-teens to full grown adults during that time. Not to say that The New 52 doesnt have some silver linings; for one, it did streamline a lot of DCs convoluted history which made it much more accessible for new or casual readers; with the exception of Grant Morrisons Batman Incorporated or Geoff Johns Green Lantern, readers didnt have to read up on several years worth of stories to understand the characters' backstory. Because of this it reinvigorated DC and its stable of superheroes by attracting a slew of new readers and has largely been quite successful, but nonetheless remains quite controversial.
Richard Church has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in Television Writing and Producing. He is an aspiring writer for short stories, novels and screenplays. He is also an avid fan of comic books and graphic novels.
